Hanz, W1JSB and I hiked near Profile Falls in Bristol today. We worked Germany, Canary Islands, the Netherlands, Ontario and North Carolina.

Here’s a photo of Hanz setting up his gear on the bridge abutment.

We set up our gear on the old rail right of way on the edge of Profile Brook. The rails are gone and the bridge is unused, but the stone abutment remains. It’s a pretty spot. We operated here in the early spring.

I heaved a line into a tall maple tree near the old bridge site. We pulled up a 33 foot wire and I connected a 9:1 unun and started operating the KX3 on 15 meters. The Worked All Germany contest was in full swing, so we worked quite a few German stations. Here’s my log:

After operating on 15 meters for a while, Hanz took over. He operated his souped up 20 meter SWL rig in the yellow Pelican box. He worked several Germans.

After a while we switched to 17 meters with my KX3. Hanz worked KS4S in North Carolina and PA3DZM in the Netherlands, and I worked EA8BBJ in the Canary Islands.

The afternoon sky had clouded over and most of the leaves were off the trees. But the air still had a rich fragrance of fall and the lingering warmth of Indian summer. We hadn’t operated together for nearly a month, and it was
great to get out with our QRP gear again.

3 Responses to “Fall Hike to Profile Brook”

Good evening Jim, I find it always nice to have a CW contest on when I am trying out an antenna. For me it was the Alexloop in the living room of our home. I was able to snag 4 Germany stations with 5 watts and the loop. Nice to see that you were able to do the same….I was a point giver for the afternoon and if I get time on Sunday I will do the same.
Mike

Jim,
Seeing photos/videos of Hanz and his little plastic box radios is getting monotonous, as I am sure it is for him operating them. Convince him he needs a nice commercial radio like the KX3. We have good plastics and electronics recycling here in NJ….tell him my address is good on QRZ. 😉